E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

General:
Low, many-branched shrub; stems up to 30 cm tall, green to greenish-brown, strongly angled, usually minutely hairy, especially in the grooves.

Leaves:
Alternate, deciduous, egg-shaped to elliptic-lanceolate, 1-3 cm long, light green, margins sharply toothed, tips pointed to blunt, strongly veined with prominent midrib on the lower surfaces.

Flowers:
Solitary in leaf axils; flower stalks nodding, 2-3 mm long; corollas pinkish, urn bell-shaped, about 5 mm long; calyces very shallowly lobed, nearly obsolete; filaments glabrous; anthers with dorsal awns, the pore-bearing terminal tubes about equaling the pollen sacs.

Fruits:
Berries, globe-shaped, 4-8 mm wide, dark red to blue-black; edible and sweetish.

Notes:
Often confused with V. scoparium, however, branches are minutely-hairy and are thicker and less numerous than in V. scoparium, giving it a more open habit. The plant, leaves, and flowers are also larger and the berries darker.